tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post8856500151164979665..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Show, Don't Tell!SJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-15851840872891906672015-10-06T20:24:42.111-05:002015-10-06T20:24:42.111-05:00I didn't quite hate it. I just ended up not li...I didn't quite hate it. I just ended up not liking it very much. It has huge aspirations, but it doesn't feel like it gets there honestly to me. <br /><br />I do love the cast, though. I went into it with high hopes based on that cast.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-69403228513601324682015-10-06T19:11:40.624-05:002015-10-06T19:11:40.624-05:00I think this might be a love it or hate it title. ...I think this might be a love it or hate it title. I love it but then I'm a sucker for this type of film and while it is very leisurely paced I've always been a fan since I saw it in the theatre years ago. It helps that I love everyone in it and it was the place where I discovered many of the actors, Michael Kitchen, Polly Walker and Josie Lawrence and it lead me to seek out their other work. I'm especially fond of Joan Plowright's work in this, her slow about face is beautifully done. So there's that sentimental attachment and the film is just so beautiful once it gets to San Salvatore with the London scenes a wonderfully shot balance of gloom and closeness. I've never seen the original film version from the 30's with Ann Harding and Frank Morgan but I have seen the stage play where the story follows very closely.<br /><br />With all that said I have several friends who love it as I do and probably an equal number who found it a difficult slog to the finish.joel65913https://www.blogger.com/profile/14526657073681774683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-86630207084048966722015-10-06T10:49:12.479-05:002015-10-06T10:49:12.479-05:00Yeah, that's sort of it. I'm completely wi...Yeah, that's sort of it. I'm completely willing to suspend my disbelief when it's warranted. This just never got to warranted for me. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-90906277019601029562015-10-06T09:50:41.169-05:002015-10-06T09:50:41.169-05:00It's been many years since I last saw this, bu...It's been many years since I last saw this, but I remember liking it quite a bit. I didn't have a problem with the "it's this place" that makes them act the way they do. In fact. that's probably why I watched it - to see that happen.<br /><br />I know where you're coming from, though. My suspension of disbelief gets set off by various things, too, but just not this kind of story.Chip Laryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00787403805554027107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-74859259056185827062015-10-06T08:25:27.276-05:002015-10-06T08:25:27.276-05:00And with this cast, too! This is a cast capable of...And with this cast, too! This is a cast capable of so much more!SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-36203578895733749672015-10-06T08:24:58.058-05:002015-10-06T08:24:58.058-05:00It really doesn't. Magical realism movies like...It really doesn't. Magical realism movies like <i>Field of Dreams</i> and <i>Big Fish</i> are so beautiful when done well. When they're not, it ends up feeling so amateurish. That was the problem here.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-13652301741635636372015-10-06T07:48:22.678-05:002015-10-06T07:48:22.678-05:00I'm pretty much right there with you. I wante...I'm pretty much right there with you. I wanted to like this one, especially because I am generally a fan of Merchant Ivory productions, and this looked like it would resemble those...but outside of the pretty scenery...there wasn't much here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-28491886100911296512015-10-06T06:32:51.758-05:002015-10-06T06:32:51.758-05:00"He’s still his assholish self and then sudde...<b>"He’s still his assholish self and then suddenly he’s not. There’s no real transition; he just loosens up and suddenly love blooms. The same thing happens with Rose and her husband. He shows up and she doesn’t know it. Then she sees him and suddenly they’re newlyweds. I don’t expect things in a story that leans toward magical realism to explain why things happen the way they do, but I do expect some explanation beyond “it’s this place” to make those things happen."</b><br /><br />This sounds suspiciously like a riff off the classic Star Trek episode "This Side of Paradise" (with Spock swinging from a tree), or maybe "Shore Leave"—but even <i>those</i> episodes made the effort to explain the ambient kookiness. Too bad this film doesn't.Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.com